Dennis Drazin heads up Elite Equine Consultants LLC, which oversees the operation of Monmouth Park. An attorney whose personal-injury law firm Drazin & Warshaw is based in Red Bank, N. J., Drazin has spent the last 30-plus years as a member of the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, including stints as the organization’s president and general counsel. He has also served as chairman of the New Jersey Racing Commission.

A longtime owner/breeder, Drazin owned Tempest Fugit, a $75,000 claim who went on to capture the 2002 Oceanport Handicap at Monmouth along with a pair of out-of-town stakes. Drazin also owned Unky and Ally, the 1997 winner of the Grade 3 Sorority Stakes. In 2001, Drazin was named the winner of the Virgil “Buddy” Raines Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to New Jersey racing.

Congratulations to photographer Mary Keener, winner of this week’s Fan Photo Contest! From Mary: "Lesson of the day according to Shackleford: The hay always tastes better on the ground than from the hay net." Want in? E-mail your submissions with a brief caption to photos@NTRA.com!

Peter Miller, leading trainer at the 2012 Del Mar meet, telling Ed Zieralski in the San Diego Union-Tribune last week what winning the training title would mean to him:“If we could win this meet, to me, it would be better than winning the Kentucky Derby…A lot of bad trainers have won the Kentucky Derby. Not too many bad trainers have won the Del Mar meeting. Look at the list. We have Hall of Famers here.”

Dr. Rick Arthur, CHRB equine medical director, on this year’s Del Mar meet:“I think it has been a very successful meeting. The trainers are happy with the track, which is unusual for any racetrack.”

Joe Harper, President and CEO of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, on the 2012 meet that wrapped up yesterday:“We did the Del Mar thing really well…terrific racing and lots of fun.”

Trainer Bill Mott, quoted in Thoroughbred Daily News, on the death of Theatrical, who Mott trained in the 1980s:“He was my first champion, my first Breeders’ Cup winner. He bought my first home in New York, singlehandedly. He was probably the most life-changing horse I ever had.”

NHC 14 -- 141 DAYS AND COUNTING.....
The excitement is building with only 20 weekends left to compete for an NHC 14 seat. A total of 220 players have already punched their ticket to the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship, presented by Sovereign Stable and Treasure Island. Click here to view the current DRF NHC Tour schedule. There is still time to add your name to the list of qualifiers.

SEPTEMBER ON-TRACK CONTEST DATES Surfside Race Place will be conducting its next series of NHC qualifiers on September 7-9. The Friday mini tournament, September 7 will be followed by a two-day contest, September 8-9. Click here for Surfside Race Place contest information.

The Kentucky Downs Turf Handicapping Challenge is set for September 15. Three NHC spots and $15,000 in cash prizes will be up for grabs. The entry fee is $150. The handicapping challenge is going to be held on the marquee day of the Kentucky Downs meeting, which features the running of the Grade III, $200,000 Kentucky Turf Cup. Contact Bill Flesher at billflesher@kentuckydowns.com or at (270) 586-6667.

Horse Players Qualify is conducting Players Challenge qualifiers on September 9 and 15. The final event will be held on September 28-29. For more details on the Players Challenge and a schedule of Players Challenge qualifiers click here.

GULFSTREAM PARK TO HOST LAST CHANCE/FIRST CHANCE QUALIFIER IN JANUARY
Gulfstream Park will be hosting the very first "Last Chance/First Chance" NHC Qualifier on Eclipse Awards weekend, January 19-20. The top two finishers will receive NHC berths. If the player has already qualified to the 2013 NHC, the berth will be awarded to the 2014 NHC. If he or she has not qualified to the 2013 NHC the spot will be granted to the January 25-26, 2013 event. Airfare and hotel accommodations to the Finals will also be awarded to the top two finishers. Click here to book your room at the Hampton Inn-Hallandale at the preferred NHC player rate. Contact Mike Nyman at michael.nyman@gulfstreampark.com for more details.

EXCITING ENGLISH IMPORT TO MAKE RUN AT BREEDERS' CUP BERTH FOR SOVEREIGN
Fearless Jacq, an Irish-bred 2-year-old filly who won the first start of her career at Newmarket in England, has been purchased privately by NHC presenting sponsor Sovereign Stable. Fearless Jacq is being pointed for the $250,000 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine on September 15. The Natalma is a Breeders’ Cup ‘Win and You’re In’ race, with the winner receiving entry fees paid to the Grade I, $1,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Click here for more information on how to become part of the Fearless Jacq ownership team.

DAILY RACING FORM NHC TOUR LEADER BOARDS
Judy Wagner (New Orleans, LA) has taken the second-half lead in the DRF NHC Tour with 4,727 points.. Paul Parker (Norcross, GA) is in second place with 4,479 points. Mark McGuire (Newbury, Park, CA) is maintaining his top spot on the full-year Leader Board with Mark Streiff (Mission Veijo, CA) remaining in second-place.

Sept. 7, 1970: Bill Shoemaker surpassed John Longden’s then-record of 6,032 wins when he piloted Dares J to victory at Del Mar and became the world’s winningest jockey.

Sept. 7, 2009: Linda Rice became the first female trainer to win the trainer’s title at Saratoga. She registered 20 wins, one more than Todd Pletcher.

Sept. 8, 1990: Bill Shoemaker scored his first stakes victory as a trainer when he sent a five-year-old mare, Baldomero (IRE), to victory in the Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar.

Sept. 8, 1999: The Emirates Racing Association announced that the 2000 renewal of the Dubai World Cup would be worth $6 million.

Sept. 8, 2002: On his 41st birthday, Mario Pino became the 18th jockey to ride 5,000 winners by visiting the winner’s circle twice at Delaware Park. Pino got his 5,000 win when he guided Outdone to victory in the ninth race.

Sept. 10, 2004: Zippy Chippy, Thoroughbred racing’s lovable loser, made it 0-for-100 when he finished last in an eight-horse field at the Three-County Fairgrounds in Northampton, Mass.

Sept. 11, 1976: In the third race at Latonia, jockey John Oldham and his wife, Suzanne Picou, became the first husband and wife riding team to compete in a parimutuel race together. Oldham finished second aboard Harvey’s Hope and Picou rode My Girl Carla to an 11th-place finish.

Sept. 13, 2008: Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien became the first trainer in 73 years to achieve a sweep of all five Irish Classics when Septimus powered to a 13-length triumph in the Irish Field St. Leger at the Curragh. Jack Rogers in 1935 was the last trainer to saddle winners of Ireland’s 1000 and 2000 Guineas, Derby, Oaks and St Leger in the same season.

Sept. 14, 1853: West Australian won the St. Leger Stakes by three lengths and became England’s first Triple Crown winner.

Sept. 14, 1959: The new $32 million Aqueduct, operated by the New York Racing Association, opened.

Sept. 14, 2001: The National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Breeders’ Cup Limited announced the formation of the NTRA Charities – New York Heroes Fund to benefit the children and spouses of the firefighters, police officers, emergency workers and other victims who perished in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. The organizations also dedicated the Oct. 27 Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, to be run at Belmont Park to the memory of those slain and their survivors.

Sept. 15, 1876: Isaac Murphy, one of the nation’s greatest black jockeys, had his first career win, aboard Glentina, at the Kentucky Association meet in Lexington. Then known as Isaac Burns, Murphy later adopted the surname of his grandfather.

Sept. 15, 1973: Secretariat won the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap in the then-world record time of 1:45 2/5 for 1 1/8 miles. He defeated his stablemate, Riva Ridge, by 3 1/2 lengths. The winner’s share of the purse, $150,000, made Secretariat a millionaire.

Sept. 15, 2001: Jockey Russell Baze, the fourth winningest rider in history behind only Laffit Pincay Jr., Bill Shoemaker and Pat Day, registered his 7,500th career victory after piloting Valid Double to victory in the third race at Bay Meadows racetrack in San Mateo, Calif.

Sept. 15, 2007: Purchased for a record $16 million as a two-year-old, The Green Monkey made his racing debut at Belmont Park and finished third in a maiden race.

Sept. 16, 1972: Sent off at odds of 1-5, Secretariat won the Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park by 1 3/4 lengths, creating a minus show pool at the track of $4,985.

Sept. 16, 1978: For the first time in history, two Triple Crown winners met in a race, the Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park. Seattle Slew, the 1977 Triple Crown winner, defeated Affirmed, the 1978 Triple Crown winner, by three lengths.

Sept. 16, 2000: Keeneland successfully executed the Thoroughbred industry’s first-ever Internet auction, selling four horses on-line for a total of $109,500. There were more than 200 buyers and agents registered to bid.

Sept. 17, 1973: Penny Chenery announced that Secretariat would make his inaugural start on the turf in the Oct. 8 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park.

Sept. 18, 1920: Carrying the top weight of his career, 138 pounds, three-year-old Man o’ War won the Potomac Handicap, conceding 24 pounds to his nearest rival, Paul Jones, and 30 pounds to the second-place finisher, Wildair.

Sept. 18, 1943: The U.S. Army occupied the grounds of Hollywood Park as part of the war effort.

Sept. 18, 1999: Jockey David Gall retired as the fourth winningest rider of all time with 7,396 victories to his credit.

Sept. 19, 1943: Rider Eddie Arcaro returned to racing after a 12-month suspension that resulted from his attempt to injure a fellow rider in the Cowdin Stakes the previous year.

Sept. 19, 1942: Alsab, runner-up in the 1942 Kentucky Derby, beat 3-10 favorite Whirlaway, the 1941 Triple Crown champion, by a nose in a $25,000 match race at Narragansett Park. The match was arranged after Alsab was scratched from the Narragansett Special, a race won by Whirlaway one week earlier. Narragansett’s president, James Dooley, offered to contribute the track’s share of the mutuel handle, plus breakage, to the Army and Navy Relief Funds, making attendance at the race a patriotic gesture. Alsab and Whirlaway met twice more that year, with Whirlaway winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 3, and Alsab besting him in the New York Handicap on Oct. 10.

Sept. 19, 1997: Chelsea Zupan set an Emerald Downs record by winning seven consecutive races at the Auburn, Wash. oval. Zupan won four on September 18th and three on September 19th. The feat was a national record for consecutive victories by a female rider.